Conroe (microprocessor)

Conroe is the code name for many Intel processors sold as Core 2 Duo, Xeon, Pentium Dual-Core and Celeron. It was the first desktop processor to be based on the Core microarchitecture, replacing the NetBurst microarchitecture based Cedar Mill processor. It has product code 80557, which is shared with Allendale and Conroe-L that are very similar but have a smaller L2 cache. Conroe-L has only one processor core and a new CPUID model. The mobile version of Conroe is Merom, the dual-socket server version is Woodcrest, the quad-core desktop version is Kentsfield and the quad-core dual-socket version is Clovertown. Conroe was replaced by the 45 nm Wolfdale processor.

Conroe is the code name for many Intel processors sold as Core 2 Duo, Xeon, Pentium Dual-Core and Celeron. It was the first desktop processor to be based on the Core microarchitecture, replacing the NetBurst microarchitecture based Cedar Mill processor. It has product code 80557, which is shared with Allendale and Conroe-L that are very similar but have a smaller L2 cache. Conroe-L has only one processor core and a new CPUID model. The mobile version of Conroe is Merom, the dual-socket server version is Woodcrest, the quad-core desktop version is Kentsfield and the quad-core dual-socket version is Clovertown. Conroe was replaced by the 45 nm Wolfdale processor. ====Conroe XE==== The Core 2 Extreme X6800 was officially released on July 29, 2006. It uses the Conroe XE core and replaced the dual-core Pentium Extreme Edition processors. The Core 2 Extreme X6800 has a clock rate of 2.93 GHz and a 1066 MT/s FSB, although it was initially expected to be released with a 3.33 GHz clock rate and a 1333¹ MT/s FSB. The TDP for the X6800 is 75 watts, higher than the 65 watts of regular Core 2 Duo CPUs. With SpeedStep enabled, the average temperature of the CPU when idle is essentially that of the ambient atmosphere with its fan running at 1500 RPM. The less powerful E6x00 models of Core 2 Duo were scheduled for simultaneous release with the X6800. At launch time, Intel's price for the Core 2 Extreme X6800 was US$999 each in quantities of 1000. Like the desktop Core 2 Duo, it has 4 MB of shared L2 cache available. This means that the only major difference between the regular Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme is the higher clock rate and unlocked multiplier, the usual advantages of the "Extreme Edition". The fully unlocked multiplier is of use to enthusiasts as it allows the user to set the clock rate higher than shipping frequency without modifying the FSB frequency, unlike mainstream Core 2 Duo models whose multipliers are downward unlocked only. ===Allendale=== Allendale was originally the name for the E4000 processors, which use a low-cost version of the Conroe core. They feature a lower front side bus frequency of 800 MT/s instead of 1066 MT/s and only half the L2 cache (2 MB, similar to the Core 2 Duo E6300 and E6400), offering a smaller die size and therefore greater yields. Most media have subsequently applied the name Allendale to all LGA 775 processors with steppings L2 and M0, while Intel refers to all of these as Conroe. The Core 2 Duo E4300 uses an Allendale core, released on January 21, 2007¹. Allendale processors are produced in the LGA 775 form factor, on the 65 nm process node. Initial list price per processor in quantities of one thousand for the E4300 was US$163. A standard OEM price was US$175, or US$189 for a retail package. The price was cut on April 22, 2007, when the E4400 was released at $133 and the E4300 dropped to $113. A new E2000 series of Allendale processors with half their L2 cache disabled was released in mid-June 2007 under the Pentium Dual-Core brand name. The working cache memory was reduced by half again when the Allendale core was released under Intel's Celeron brand; the Celeron E1000 processors have a 512k L2 cache shared between its two cores. Subsequent E4000 Allendale processors were introduced as E4500 and E4600. The final E4700 processor was using the G0 stepping instead of M0, which makes it a Conroe core. The E4000 processors were discontinued on March 6, 2009. E6300 and E6400 CPUs, as well as their Xeon 3040 and 3050 counterparts, have been made using the original 4 MB B2 stepping with half their L2 cache disabled prior to Q1 2007, but using the 2 MB L2 stepping later. This caused contention regarding whether or not the previously available versions were specimens of the Allendale core. Only the newer cores are now commonly referred to as Allendale. Quoted from The Tech Report: You'll find plenty of sources that will tell you the code name for these 2 MB Core 2 Duo processors is "Allendale," but Intel says otherwise. These CPUs are still code-named "Conroe," which makes sense since they're the same physical chips with half of their L2 cache disabled. Intel may well be cooking up a chip code-named Allendale with 2 MB of L2 cache natively, but this is not that chip.

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